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He describes himself as like a lot of Prince Edward Islanders -- friendly, quiet and a family man with four kids who enjoys life.

And like a lot of Summerside residents he’s turned into a basketball fan.

Even though he claims he’s a plain old Joe, when it comes to basketball Trenholm is anything but plain.

Trenholm is a fan of the Summerside Storm. He’s a regular twitter-holic and a marvel at coming up with statistics that are significant in determining how well people are playing.

He often collates stories from around the National Basketball League of Canada and sends them out on Twitter. Trenholm is the kind of fan that grows the game.

Needless to say, he’s glad his team came back with a win Wednesday to extend the NBL best-of-five final with the London Lightning.

Trenholm, and his family, have been fans of the Storm since the league came into existence two years ago.

They don’t like missing games even though on some school nights they only go for one half of basketball.

Trenholm has a great handle on how far not only the Storm has come as a team but how far the fans have come learning about the game.

Unlike London, Summerside didn’t have a history with basketball before the NBL.

“We’re a pretty quiet community here,” Trenholm says. “After Platinum Blond came to play here, they swore they would never come back because it was so quiet during the performance.”

Which leads us to how great the learning curve for basketball was for the community. Let’s face it, Summerside isn’t exactly the kind of place anyone would expect to find a minor professional basketball team.

“I remember the first game,” Trenholm says. “We got our first point at the foul line and there was no cheering. The player looked around not sure what was going on.

“We’re pretty friendly people here and as fans started to learn the rules, I suggested maybe we should boo when the other team was on the foul line, people were saying ‘we can’t do that.’ There was a big discussion about it. Fans had be taught how and when to cheer.”

That has certainly changed now. There were more than 2,500 white-shirted fans at Credit Union Place. They had no trouble booing Lightning shooters at the line, although it was short of ear-shattering.

During the winter, Trenholm and his family started a petition to keep the Storm in Summerside when there were lease issues at the Credit Union Place. They got almost 700 signatures in a short time.

“People love the Storm,” Trenholm said. “I like them because the games are really family-oriented. Nothing against hockey but a lot of people get most excited at hockey when there’s a fight and do you really want your family watching that?

“These guys are in the community. They go to schools. They are like family. The kids eat them up.”

Trenholm is also pretty good at making suggestions. He suggested the Storm spotlight the opposing players when they are introduced.

He has another suggestion for Game 4 on Friday.

Trenholm was intrigued by Lightning coach Micheal Ray Richardson’s quote that the Lightning threw the ball around on Wednesday like “a hot potato.”

Trenholm doesn’t think the Storm fans should boo or yell ‘airball’ when the Lightning are at the foul line. He thinks all the fans should yell ‘potato” when a player steps to the foul line.